Presidential Jeopardy !

Donald Trump has been a controversial figure in his business dealings and even on election day he was widely thought to be the loser in the presidential election race.  The fact that he won shocked the world and ever since he has been the most controversial president ever to hold office in America.

He is now in Presidential jeopardy.  A lot of his citizens think he committed treason when he  absolved Russian president Putin from blame for the fake news stories run on Facebook to influence voters choice to him and against Hillary Clinton.  He then dismissed the investigation by his own security people - and by special investigator Robert Mueller - as a " witch hunt " which he proposed to ignore.

It is becoming quite clear that this investigation is revealing the compelling truth that government operatives within Russia were responsible for damaging stories appearing on Facebook that turned voters from Clinton to Trump.  Whether he won office fairly is now in doubt and the people go to the polls in November for the mid term elections.  It is quite possible that the political balance in both the house and the Senate could change if the voters have a different opinion on their president's performance in office.

Trump has another two years before he must again face the voters for a second term.   The big question is what damage he could do to America's security in that time.  The power to wage war rests in the hands of the president but equally the safety of the country from attack also rests in his hands.  We live in a dangerous world and Trump's insistence that he can win a trade war is sharply disagreed by most economists.  If the world engages in a tariffs race we could end up with a repeat of the great depression of the 1930's.

Trump won office because his promise to " Make America Great Again "  appealed  to those who had lost their jobs to globalization and to the middle class who had seen no wage increases for years. He appeared " different " from the usual presidential aspirants and his break with formality in running his office has held their support.  At the same time, it has appalled  an equally big section of the community who see Trump as a maniac retreating from NATO leadership and puttying the American military at serious risk.

America has two great political parties in the Republicans and the Democrats but in the past both managed to achieve enough cross aisle accommodation to deliver workable government. That partisanship reached breaking point under Obama when the Republicans refused to appoint a nominee to fill a vacancy on the American High court.  Now Trump has a similar task and many fear the tone of the court may swing into a more conservative direction.

Several American presidents  have fallen victim to an assassins bullet and once again the person holding this high office is stirring conflicting passions.  The gun in private hands is more common in America than any other part of the world.  The job of protecting the president falls on the secret service.  The controversy about this president makes that task critical  !